I brought his wife her laptop and some music for Jeff to listen to, the doctors think it'll be good for him. I actually got a chance to go in and see Jeff. They've got him pretty heavily sedated, so he was not awake. He was fighting a fever and they were cooling him so he was shivering a bit. His color looked good and he looked strong. For some reason I was expecting something much worse.

I hung around and heard the update from the Doctor. They're fairly certain that Jeff has EEE, but they won't know for sure until the test results come back, which will be another couple of days. Until that point they will continue to treat him with a variety of antibiotics for a variety of possible infections. If the tests come back that it is EEE or another viral infection they will discontinue most of the antibiotics and Jeff's body will fight the infection. They will assist him in any way they can, but there is no treatment for EEE. They will work to keep his temperature normal and keep the brain swelling to minimum. And generally try and prevent any secondary damage to his brain. Jeff's a strong guy and in otherwise good health. If anyone can fight this thing, Jeff can. If it somehow turns out to be something they can treat with antibiotics, they will focus on that specific infection and treat it appropriately.

Today we had some positive bits of news. The swelling in Jeff's brain is less than expected. He has not had a seizure in well over 24 hours and because of this they removed the brain scan wires from his head and didn't need to insert a plug in his skull to monitor his brain swelling. His white blood cell count is improving and his temperature is currently back to normal. And while they are assisting his breathing, he is initiating each breath, they're just making it easier for him.

Is this time to run out and celebrate? Definitely not. But we had some forward progress today. Today there is room for hope.